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Cut Finger and Fallen Tree (haha)

2/27/2011

This past week was very pleasant, and fairly uneventful - well, except for two highlights. One was bad, one was good. The good news is that the Reiblings got rid of a dead tree in their backyard! Nathan mentioned that in his recent post. The bad highlight kind of, um, happened to me. I was cutting up something for lunch on Thursday, and the knife I was using slipped and cut my finger. It bled for a while, but thankfully if I kept it pretty still it didn't hurt. I was a little freaked out because it was kinda deep, but my dad wrapped it up nicely. Even though my dad reassured my mom that I didn't need stitches, she was afraid that I did. Today she finally took me to after-hours, after (haha) we had a late breakfast and wonderful little church. My mom knew that they most likely would not give me stitches since it was already the fourth day after the, ah, 'incident', but she wanted to hear what the doctor would say. We had to wait for a while, and when the nurse brought us (finally!) into the procedure room, she basically told us that if I had needed stitches, I really should have come in earlier, and that the doc probably wouldn't give me stitches. Later my mom said she was thinking, "Yeah, yeah - tell us something we don't already know." Anyway, long story short, the doctor was very helpful (he actually said that he usually tried to talk people out of getting stitches on their hands, for a few different reasons, unless it was really bad, of course), and we walked out of there without stitches and with a splint, which is very, very helpful. If I hold my finger in a wrong position, or strain it a certain way, it'll hurt and I can tell that it's not good for the healing of my cut. But now that the splint is on, I can do things (like typing this blog :-D) without being afraid of straining my finger and opening my cut again. So, yeah, that's nice.

Anyway, sorry for boring you with all the unnececesary info about my cut. :-) One more thing: please be praying for health for our family and the Reibling family. Within the last two weeks, almost always one of the two families has been sick. The germs have been flying. Right now my mom and Mrs. Reibling are both a bit sick, especially Mrs. Reibling. So, prayer would be great! God bless, y'all!!

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Awesome Day at the Beach!!!!

2/21/2011

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The day at the beach yesterday was amazingly incredible! We got there at almost noon, I think, and the six of us had little church while Mr. Leu (aka Scott, in my mom's blog) did some laundry and had his time with God. After eating the lunch we had packed, my family then walked the agonizing length of across the street to get to the beach (haha). I sat with Mom and Dad on the beach chairs, taking pictures of Nicholas scooping up water and tossing it out in an arch, Nathan creating his sand castle, and Noah...um...I'm not exactly sure what Noah was doing. :-)

Soon Mrs. Leu and her two daughters and young son arrived and, along with Mr. Leu, joined us at the beach. The boys made a sand castle while we three girls (we three kings of Orient are bearing gifts...sorry :-) random burst into song) tossed a football and then walked along the beach. There was a huge sand castle that someone made! I took a picture of Jordan and Brianna (sorry if I spelled your names wrong!) next to it. Then we girls made a sand castle of our own, a kind of miniature version of the big one. :-) Then we connected the boys' sand castle/tunnel/recliner (as shown by Nathan) to the girls' sand castle, and Jordan and Sammy, the Leu's little boy, made a tiny wall all around our empire. It was awesome. :-) Here are some of the pictures that Mom and I took:

I hope everyone had as great of a weekend as we did!! Today we just did schoolwork and laundry. Same old, same old. And I got to write a 5-paragraph essay - oh, joy! :-) But I found a topic online that I liked - the topic that was assigned from the textbook seemed kinda dull, so Mom said I could pick another one. :-)

God bless, y'all! :-)

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Lessons from a Smashed, Crashed, and Totally Trashed Rearview Mirror

2/19/2011

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We had a wonderful time at my grandparents' house yesterday! As my mom blogged already, we celebrated my Aunt Christy's birthday with cake and cards and presents. :) I'm glad we were able to make her feel special. I'm also glad that we were able to spend time with my Aunt Deb and Uncle Jeff - they live in Illinois, so we obviously don't get to see them much. Uncle Jeff made a delicious carrot cake and chocolate cake for the birthday girl - they were SO good!! :)

Now, you might be wondering what my weird title means. Last night, on the way home from our grandparents', we dropped off my dad at a place near the beach where he and a couple of guys are hanging for the weekend. After we dropped him off at about 10:30 PM (we got a bit lost on the way...), the five of us made our way home. On the five-lane highway, there was a sign that informed us drivers that it blocked off the right 3 lanes. So my mom pulled over to the second-to-last lane as the huge cone-barrier thing formed a blockade against the cursed lanes (haha - they were just doing construction). I'm going to write the rest of the story in third person:

The Jonathon Parks audio CD was just at the most exciting part of the story as Nicole yawned and rested her head against the seat belt. She took her glasses off, folded them up and stored them safely away in their case. She re-adjusted her legs around her bag of stuff, trying to get comfortable in the cramped backseat. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of the teenage girls in the story that was unfolding dramatically out of the speakers. She was soon lost in the suspenseful story...

Nicole opened her eyes after a moment and returned to the present. She yawned, leaned forward and strained to read the clock on the dashboard - oh, yeah, she had taken her glasses off. It looked like...11:19. She fell back against her seat and yawned again. Ergh. She was really tired. She tuned back into the audio CD. She watched the cone-barrier things speed past the right side of the car. One...two...three..."They aren't spaced out evenly," she mused. "They're pretty close to the car, too." Nicole glanced nervously at her mom as she drove steadily along. Her mom must have been thinking the same thing, too, because she edged the car a little to the left. "That's weird," Nicole thought. "The barriers are getting closer..." Her eyes shot toward mom and back toward the barriers - they were definitely getting closer.

"Mom..." She started. Then she gasped, getting the boys' attention. A barrier coming up was in their lane, but there was a car to the left of them! As they barrier rushed toward their car, Nicole screamed, "Mom, watch out!" A loud crash jolted everyone as glass flew past the car. Somehow Nicole's mom was able to make it into the fifth lane without getting hit again. Nicole burst out crying from the suspension and shock. The bumper must have been torn off, the side of the car completely dented. She was so tired - she just wanted to be home. All of a sudden, a wave of homesickness overwhelmed her, soaking into her body just like her exhaustion. She wanted to crawl into her canopy bed, stretch out, wrap her arms around the pillow and fall asleep in her large, comfortable, private, all-to-herself bedroom.

I know it sounds kinda dramatic, but that's what really happened. We all thought the whole side of the car was totally caved in or something, banged up and everything. But when Mom got out to check out the damage at the next red light, she gave us the good news that only the rearview mirror was smashed. Thank God!

So, onto the 'lessons' part of the title (yeah, this is kinda long). I started praying, asking God comfort me and show me the good side of this (other than the fact that no one was hurt!). He says He makes everything work together for my good, like the song we sang at church today. Somehow, this small accident showed me that God still has plans for me. It also showed me - and God showed me - that there will be times when things rush into my life that weren't expected. Things that look like barriers, complete road-blocks, dead-ends, etc. will be in my life. I will feel crushed and squeezed, the world shoving me on one side, the barrier or whatever it is coming up and threatening to crash my life. But I just need to trust God. I need to always trust God. He loves me, He loves us all to an extent that we can never, ever fathom. Good night, and God bless you all!

　

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

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Glasses

2/19/2011

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!! I did. :-) We didn't really do anything; it was just a good day. I made a paper rose for my parents with a poem that I wrote rolled up in it - at least, it was supposed to look like a paper rose. :-)

My mom and I picked up my glasses!!! I've had them for a few days now. They're really nice - I didn't know how nearsighted I was compared to 20/20 vision. I think Noah has, like, 20/15 vision. :-) He has GREAT vision, and also really, really good peripheral vision, too. My mom said that when he was a baby, he would just be sitting there, not really looking at you, but he would still be watching you out of the corner of his eyes. :-) Anyway, I'm still getting used to having the glasses on all the time. :) I took a picture of myself with them on to post on here, but it's not uploading. Ergh.

The way the glasses make my vision clearer makes me think of the way Christ makes our spiritual vision clearer. The leaves, the grass, the flowers, and the squirrels scampering up the tree trunks are all some things that are clearer in my sight. Before I really started seeking out God in my personal, daily life, I was just going through the motions. I was living in a blurred version of life, a mist of confusion, chaos and deception. In Christ, we are still learning and growing - our vision is becoming clearer everyday.

And even then, God sometimes just wants us to trust Him - we don't have to understand to obey. We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) We have to "trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). And then, do you remember the verse after that? "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

One more thing: I wanted to thank everyone for being so supporting and encouraging all the time. Hearing everyone's comments brightens the day for all of us! God bless!!

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He is Always Here

2/12/2011

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The service at the Crossing Church today was incredible!! Pastor Greg and his wife, Tamara, have started (as of last week) a series called ‘textual relationships’. Every once in a while he and his wife will do a series where they preach together each week, which I think is pretty cool. But it’s not just for couples – it’s some amazing tools for having a healthy relationship or friendship with anyone, along with a lot of awesome verses from the Bible to back up the message. This evening they used James 4:1-12, in The Message version, as their main passage from the Bible. I loved this week’s sermon…as I did last week…and the week before…our church – no, God is on a roll! :-)

But I think what made it so amazing for me today was the great start I had with the worship songs!!! Omar was the main singer for the first song, and, man, was it amazing!! Omar is just so on fire for God, especially through music. While everyone else sings beautifully, too, we hardly get to hear Omar anymore (he used to sing a lot for the kids where I helped out last year, but now I believe he’s focused on the older youth). His joy is just so radiant, and it makes me so joyful! All in all, church this evening was a powerful, inspiring message and a full-of-joy-and-thankfulness-and-true-praise worship service!! (If that made any sense :-) haha).

BTW, yesterday I got the exam and everything for my eyes – everyone there was SO nice!! – and I’ll get my glasses in about week. I’m excited. :-)

I’ve just started to read the book ‘The Hiding Place’, and last night I watched the movie. Wow. Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie and her father and her brother...wow. So amazing. It was so inspiring and heart-breaking and encouraging and eye-opening all at the same time. Completely incredible. As part of the special features after the movie, we watched a few short videos of Corre ten Boom – she was still alive when the made the movie, I believe, and these videos were included. She was a truly amazing, Christ-filled woman. As we were watching this 80-something-year-old woman talk with a young, alive, joyful spark in her eyes, I thought sorrowfully, “I missed her. She was a true follower of Jesus, delighting in the Lord, walking with our God, and I can’t meet her face to face. I missed her.” But then I thought, “No. I might have missed her, but I did not miss the Light that she trusts in, the One who makes her so alive and full of a love for others like no other. Him I will never, ever miss. He is always here.”

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Great Quiet Time with God this Morning!

2/11/2011

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“After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.” Acts 18:23

This was a verse in our reading (according to the Life Journal) this morning. I had to read the chapter, like, three and one half times before I actually ‘got’ some stuff. :-) Haha. Anyway, when I (finally) was able to apply this verse to my life, this is what I thought:

Antioch was the Gentile center of Christianity, right? It was also kind of a resting place for Paul in the midst of his successful yet slightly strenuous (he was beat up a few times) travels. He stayed there for ‘some time’, and - I imagine - he was fellowshipping with his friends a lot, swapping stories of what’s been happening with them, helping each other out and encouraging one another, etc. God gave him some time to rest and be in a familiar territory with his friends.

Hmmm...sounds a little like us, huh? Right now, we’re in our hometown, being encouraged and encouraging others, fellowshipping with friends at our church and around town, helping each other out, etc. Even though we want to go, God’s giving us some rest - and, at the same time, testing our faith and trust in Him. Eventually, at God’s Will, we’ll ‘set out’ from here, and follow God’s lead to ‘travel from place to place’, ‘strengthening all the disciples’.

This afternoon, in about an hour, Mom and I are going to go get my exam and order the frames (and lenses, obviously) that we like. I’m excited, but a little nervous - I hope I made the right choice for my glasses. They’re really nice frames, but I’m still a little concerned that I won’t like them in a few months. I guess I shouldn’t be worried about that. I just hope that my eyes don’t change much more than they are now - in other words, I hope that we don’t have to order new lenses in a year! :-) Anyway, just pray that everything goes smoothly! Thanks. God bless!!!

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Thankful

2/8/2011

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I feel so thankful right now!!! Here's some things I'm thankful for (not in order, just randomly listed as I think of them):

~The online group of teen girls, 'led' by Nancy Rue, that I'm part of. These young women and already adult woman are so amazing... so beautiful, encouraging, open, transparent - we are all so close in Christ. It's incredible.

~My pillow!!! I have the best pillow ever. It's a real feather pillow, and it's SO comfy - do you remember the previews for the 'Despicable Me' movie? As the little girl says: "IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!" :D Haha.

~Nathan, Noah, Nicholas, my mom, and my dad. I thank God every day for my wonderful, Christ-filled family!!! Although we might not always act united, we are, day in and day out, spiritually and emotionally, encouraging each other, talking about God's Word together, having fun and laughing with each other, helping each other out with schoolwork, 'emotionally responding' to one another (all you couples who were in the marriage class that my parents taught - or any marriage class - will understand that one :D haha), and just love, love, loving one another. :-)

~My friend's youth group at her church! I've been going to my friend's youth group the last two or three weeks with her. On Saturday they had a lock-in (y'know, a big overnight stay - well, it's not big compared the the Crossing church youth group's lock-ins - her youth group is only a total of about 20 kids, and I really enjoy small youth groups), but I just stayed until 10:30 PM (my mom picked me up) - but I still had SO much fun!!! You don't even want to know what we crazy teenagers did...

~Christian songs!!! I just had a sudded urge to look up (on YouTube) the song 'Blink' by Revive. It's really good. Here's a link to an awesome music video of another song, '(Jesus) Bring the Rain' by Mercy Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG6Qd0sJ9_A

~GOD!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS!!!!!!!!!!! THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!! Glory be to our awesome God!!!!! Oh, He is SO good. And praise be to God for our His One and Only, our Lord and Savior, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Jesus Christ!!!!! And thank You, God, for Your wonderful Holy Spirit, the Stream of Living Water, our Helper, Counselor, Advocate, Advisor, and Friend. Amen!!!

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Another Post!

2/3/2011

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Yesterday was a very nice day, as is today, so far. Nathan, Nicholas and I went for a short bike ride around the block (our neighborhood - everyone here calls it 'the block') yesterday afternoon. We saw an elderly man - a friend - walking his dog, and we stopped and talked with him for a few minutes. We also saw another one of our neighbors in their car, about to go to the vet. Their cat, Amelia, had almost attacked a baby screech owl! Thankfully they were able to get the owl before any harm came to it. :-) It was really cute - they had it in a box or something with a towel over the box as a lid, and the owl was in the corner sleeping. It had had a very rude interruption to its nap time. :-)

This morning we've been doing - what else? - schoolwork. :-) I've already finished my math and classifying and writing some sentences for grammar. Now I'm about to write an expository essay. What a joy. :-) I like narrative writing much better, along with poems. And this afternoon I'm going to a gymnastics thing with my friend. It's at this place that I used to go to gymnastics at, when I was younger. Today they're having some kind of 'Bring Your Friend to Gymnastics!' thing or something. :-) Oh, and our Grandma and Grandpa (Drees) are coming over tomorrow!! They live up in Michigan. I can't wait to see them.

Y'know, earlier this morning I was really irritated - with trying to schoolwork and concentrate over all the noise (I wonder who was making noise...) and some other stuff. Finally I asked Mom if I could go outside and read the grammar lesson. I grabbed a camping chair and looked around the backyard for a place to sit. I decided to see if the chair would fit in this little fort-thingy that Nathan, Nicholas, one of our friends and I built with sticks, vines, and palm fronds. It's pretty cool, but a little unstable. Anyway, I squeezed the chair into the opening, set it down, turned around to sit in the chair - and bumped a stick that was apparently holding another stick. I carefully put the two sticks back where I assumed they belonged, and accidentally caused a whole wall to come toppling down. Oops.

Frustrated, I snatched the chair, textbook and pencil and moved the chair away from the fort. I brushed off the debris from the seat, and sat down. As I looked back at the damage I had caused by slightly pushing one single stick, I thought, "I don't even know why we thought that dumb fort would work. You can't build something that will crumble at the slightest touch, and then actually expect it to stay firm." Then I had a whisper-thought, "Nicole, you can't expect to stay joyful and peaceful and loving when things go wrong if you haven't built your temple with the right supplies."

Oh. Yeah. I knew that.

It made me think of the verses in Corinthians: “But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (Corinthians 13:10b - 15)

If I build up my building - the temple that I am in Christ - with worthless, fragile items like sticks and vines, I will crumple at the slightest poke, the smallest test. Those flimsy items can be anything, like false trust and happiness in things like electronics, outward beauty, fake friends, a ‘comfortable’ environment (your comfort zone at your school, church, work - not looking at people and situations with God’s eyes and reaching out with His love), etc. They can be small things that can widely differ for your life, but no matter how big or small they might be, they will be burned up in God’s holy fire.

I don’t want to have a trashy, teetering temple. I want a shining, sturdy temple, one that gives generously, is peaceful and patient in trying times, and ‘loves the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

God bless!

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Praise Reports and Prayer Request

2/1/2011

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Well, two praise reports:

First, my mom found my camera charger!!! Thank God! It was in a computer case in a pocket. Ergh. It’s charging right now. Do you remember about it getting a glitch in it - the screen has a black mark on it (it kinda looks like a small, jagged fingerprint), and while it’s - thankfully! - not on the pictures when I upload them onto the computer, it’s always on the screen. I was OK with it, but it was a little irritating. Now I’m so glad to have a camera back, I don’t mind it!! It’s slowly getting a tiny bit bigger, so I guess eventually I’ll have to get a new camera (I can’t take it back - way over the return date).

Other praise report, mixed with a prayer request:

If you haven’t read my mom’s blog yet, I need glasses. I’m nearsighted. It’s not THAT bad (I have a friend who had very, very blurry eyesight in 2nd grade!), but it’ll be nice to have glasses. I confirmed my mom’s faint suspicions just two days ago, Sunday night, by showing her a sign that I couldn’t read. I told her it was her fault. :-) She needed glasses in 5th grade. In fact, I need glasses very similar to hers - the prescription, I mean. Her eyes are separately different, but when I tried on her glasses that she used over seven years ago, it made my right eye’s vision clearer. Anyway, at Walmart we looked at some glasses - I didn’t take the test yet for my eyes - and we found a pair we both really liked. So, we’ll see! :-) Please pray that we’ll make a wise decision. God bless!!

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Hey, peoples! :) I'm glad you found my blog - now I'm going to tell you to go to another blog! ;) This is my old blog (hence the post to the left over there), so you can go to my new blog (with Blogger) with this link: *Forgiven Mess*

A Lot about Me,
Nicole Gregory:

I am your untypical 13-year-old girl (well, I like to think of myself that way). :) I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I try my best to obey my awesome God. I like writing and enjoy reading even more. My favorite Christian author is Nancy Rue. My two favorite colors are teal and fuchsia. I love animals, especially dolphins, dogs, cats, and horses. My favorite Christian radio stations are JoyFM and K-Love, and some of my favorite Christian singers and bands are Francesca Battistelli, Britt Nicole, Chris Tomlin, Matthew West, J.J.Heller, Mandisa, MercyMe, Casting Crowns, Sidewalk Prophets...the list goes on and on and on. I am home-schooled and I love it! I lovespending time with the wonderful friends God has blessed me with! I love my family who I always thank God for. :) By the way, I am a TRIPLET, with three brothers, Nathan, Noah, and the youngest by a year and a half, Nicholas. God has blessed me abundantly, and I can't wait to see what He has in store! God bless!!

Awesome pic I took of Nicholas at the beach!

Here are some places that I posted from while we were on our road trip

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A Lot about Me,Nicole Gregory:

Awesome pic I took of Nicholas at the beach!

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Here are some places that I posted from while we were on our road trip

A Lot about Me,
Nicole Gregory: